IWC 3756 - NOS from 2004 - How to advance the calendar?

Hi,

I'm looking to purchase a IWC 3756 Perpetual Calendar - however, the watch has not been worn since 2004 (so the date is "stuck" there and furthermore the day of the week is one day ahead of the actual week day. So I have three questions:

1) Will I harm the watch by manually (and carefully) advance the date until today by turning the crown?

2) Is the only way to correct the day of the week that is out of sync - to send it to IWC to get it aligned? Any idea what that will cost (ballpark)?

3) Should I get the watch serviced - now that it has not been worn for 21 years :-)? Any idea what that will cost (ballpark)?

Thanks,
Jacob

Hi Jacob

The date can be forwarded by turning the crown, no matter how much. Of course, this takes time if the calendar is so far behind.

The weekday which is out of sync, must be corrected by a qualified watchmaker. So, I guess the watchmaker could also update the date, this shouldn’t make any difference.

The Service costs calculator on the IWC-website (Switzerland version) calculates 1‘640 CHF for a complete service on an IW3756 (GST Perpetual Calendar/Chronograph). As the weekday is out of sync and in case, you don’t know the watch’s service history, I guess, a complete service is the best option.

Philipp

Hi Philip,

Thank you very much for a quick a very useful reply. I will buy the watch as the condition is close to mint and then hand it in to IWC to get a quote on a fix for the date + a complete service.

Best,

Jacob

Sounds like a very good plan, Jacob!

And congratulations to your wonderful watch!

Philipp

Thank you very much - I've been eying this watch for the past 10+ years and when this nice one showed up - I had to buy it :-)

Hi, 

Thank you very much for your reply and for reminding me to post a follow-up :-). 

I ended up sending the watch to IWC (via an AD) and they corrected the date for me. They also told me that the watch did NOT require a service - so I decided not to get it serviced. I paid around 380 USD for the work and it took around 3-4 weeks - not too bad. 

Tbd

Wow, very cool watch, post and outcome of the process. Congratulations on all of this!

I really am surprised that no service is needed and the oils are not stuck there. Very cool!

If you don't mind and just if you like of course we'd be pleased to see a picture of the watch on your wrist once you got it back. Just if you don't mind.

Happy to see a watch dream come true!

Here's a picture of my GST Rattrapante which doesn't play in the same league but still a cool watch. 

Sorry, now pictures here! It's impossible to upload: "Unknown error" :-(

Huge congratulations, Jacob, I am so glad it all worked out. That's fantastic that you only needed the correction and not a complete service.  I am looking forward to photos once you are able to post them...